Blog

You won't want to miss my conversation with Valor Christian High School Coach Brian Shultz as we talk coaching and spiritual formation on the last From the Touchline podcast for the 2020 year! You can subscribe to the podcast here.

Tune in next week as Nashville SC Chaplain Billy Cerveny shares a special rendition of a well-known Christmas song on next week's From the Touchline podcast! You can subscribe to the podcast here.

There is a lot of talent amongst the folks that comprise the chaplain corps of Soccer Chaplains United. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, I feature an original song composed and recorded by Benjamin Dudley, volunteer co-chaplain with the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer. Ben is the longest tenured chaplain with Soccer Chaplains United (going back to 2010) and part of his story and person involves a love and skill with music. Ben's song, Everything Is All Right With Me, with lyrics from friend Rob Grant, is a fitting song not only for a year that feels lost to a global pandemic, but in the difficult world of soccer where athletes and coaches and others in the game

As 2020 comes to a close and with 2021 on the horizon, Soccer Chaplains United is making a significant shift in emphasis for the foreseeable future — namely, the elimination of an internal counseling emphasis for the organization. The shift comes after this past year of analyzing and assessing the continued viability for the organization to carry out counseling service for soccer as part of its own makeup and DNA. There are a number of reasons for what I am calling a "shift of emphasis" that I will share here. But before I do, I want to recount what I think is a still commendable history for counseling in the Soccer Chaplains United organization with the simple timeline graphic below.

This weekend, the Seattle Sounders and Columbus Crew face off in the 2020 Major League Soccer Cup Final. Well, it was 10 years ago, that I had the privilege to accompany the team where I serve as volunteer chaplain, the Colorado Rapids, to Toronto, Canada for the 2010 championship match against FC Dallas. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, I reminisce and share a couple of memories that I have from my time with team during that championship time so many years ago. From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and

Last week, the devastating news broke, Diego Maradona, one of the greatest football legends in the game, died while resting at his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For Argentinians, Maradona was a national hero and, for some, a god. For a cadre of football stars around the world, Maradona was some to be emulated for his on the field skills and abilities and accomplishments. Yet, for many controversy stirred around the person of Diego Armando Maradona and his life — with his almost Jekyll and Hyde personality. The comments of Diego's personal trainer, Fernando Signorini, were an inspiration and springboard for today's episode. In the 2019 documentary, Diego Maradona, by Asif Kapadia, Signorini is quoted as saying: “For Diego, I